HOME EDUCATION
CANADIAN PREMIERE
United Kingdom
2016
25 mins
Language: English
Directed by: Andrea Niada
Written by: Andrea Niada
Cast: Jemma Churchill, Richard Ginn, Kate Reed
This is a very British short about a very British mother and daughter, both of whom happen to be insane. The mother homeschools her child, filling her head with complete nonsense. We sense a deep religious upbringing, but never quite get to the religion. Which is fine since it would probably be too much back story. Instead we jump in just a little bit before the end.
The problem with being crazy is that it isn’t sustainable. Especially when you keep reality far at bay. At some point lying to yourself as regularly as breathing makes it impossible for you to function because you’ve created so many rules and loopholes that you lose track of what you can and can’t do, or what you’re supposed to love and what you’re supposed to hate, of what makes you calm and what makes you scared. After a while you get confused and anxious, and the world you created begins to crumble.
Because this is very British story, and even the very mad in Britain have manners, there is no loud apocalyptic reason for the crash of this family. They simply quietly, politely almost, fall apart.
The film is like watching a slow motion car crash. It builds and builds and builds until the last shot, as the mother comes to the realization x about the cost of her madness and the cost it’s had on her daughter. It’s a good scene, and a perfect ending.
Read the full review HERE